A recent New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled God, Darwin and My College Biology Class captures well the basic stumbling blocks for believers who encounter the tension between Faith and Reason or between Religion & Science. This is an age-old debate that has come to a fruitful balance for some. However, in recent years, particularly in the United states, there has been a push-back from Creationists, some Christians and other biblical fundamentalists who conflate the disciplines of Theology and Natural Sciences.
David P. Barish, the author of this Op-ed gives us an example of "The Talk" he give to his freshman biology class each year to help clear up the distinctions between the two disciplines. He and I agree that you can be a believer in Religion and not fail his biology class. We also agree that believers (in my case a Roman Catholic) need to do more on their part to reconcile the differences and point out the relationship between the two disciplines. Up until now it has been Scientists doing most of the heavy-lifting: pointing to what Science can and can not do at its very best with very poor examples (from my Roman Catholic perspective) coming from those who purport to represent Christian or other religious views. But I disagree with his ultimate conclusion and his basic attitude that as science progresses, religion and religious belief should diminish and disappear.
David P. Barish, the author of this Op-ed gives us an example of "The Talk" he give to his freshman biology class each year to help clear up the distinctions between the two disciplines. He and I agree that you can be a believer in Religion and not fail his biology class. We also agree that believers (in my case a Roman Catholic) need to do more on their part to reconcile the differences and point out the relationship between the two disciplines. Up until now it has been Scientists doing most of the heavy-lifting: pointing to what Science can and can not do at its very best with very poor examples (from my Roman Catholic perspective) coming from those who purport to represent Christian or other religious views. But I disagree with his ultimate conclusion and his basic attitude that as science progresses, religion and religious belief should diminish and disappear.
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